1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is amusement and exercise devices for use at the beach.
2. Description of Related Art
There is currently a large skill gap between inner tube floating on the water and water skiing or surf boarding. The lightweight, easy to use pontoons with balance handles that are tethered together make the present invention an ideal starter device to fill this skill gap for future water skiers or surf boarders. Traditional sources of bodily harm to users due to falling off of or upending the device requires attention. And, there are also concerns to be addressed to reduce the potential for user harm in today's climate induced and social environment to carry a user out to sea or off in an abduction.
Further, it is well-known that devices tethered together can support an adult above the water in an erect position where a walking motion produces forward movement.
The device of Rowlands (U.S. Pat. No. 22,457, Issued Dec. 28, 1858) is a prime example of an early entrant into water walking technology. Rowlands discloses two mutually tethered pontoons with erect handles. However, Rowlands presents a number of opportunities for bodily harm due to lack of foot holders, the potential for sharp or rigid surfaces impacting a user in the case of a fall, lack of land based monitoring and need for the novice to learn on a fully functional device.
The device of Schaumann (U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,897, issued Feb. 10, 1976) adds a second way of tethering the pontoons together to provide a functional easier to use device configuration for the novice, but lacks the erect handles of Rowlands in addition to a number of opportunities for harm to a user due to lack of foot holders, the potential for sharp, rigid surfaces impacting on a user in case of a fall and lack of land based user monitoring.
The device of Robinson (U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,830, issued Apr. 10, 2001) improved over Rowlands by adding foot holders on the top surface of the pontoons, however, it lacks rigid attachment of the handles to the pontoons and additionally presents a number of opportunities for user harm due to the potential for sharp, rigid surfaces impacting on a user in case of a fall, lack of land based monitoring and need for the novice to learn on a fully functional device configuration.
The device of Lauren (U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,071, issued Apr. 22, 2008 overcomes the potential for sharp rigid surfaces impacting the body of a falling user with site inflatable pontoons. However, Lauren lacks rigidly attached low impact handles and presents a number of opportunities for bodily harm to a user due to lack of land based monitoring and need for the novice to learn on a fully functional device configuration.